On 16 January, the European Commission (EC) published a Communication reporting on the implementation of EU standardisation policy, and contribution of European standards to EU policies.

The Report will serve as a basis for the long-foreseen inter-institutional dialogue with the European Parliament, Council, the Economic & Social Committee, and Committee of the Regions which should start this spring. It will aim at involving the European institutions more in standardisation policies (e.g. in setting priorities and strategies). We intend to contribute to the dialogue in order to promote the importance of an effective consumer voice in standardisation.

The Communication documents the actions taken by the EC in standardisation in aiming to promote innovation; to increase quality, safety, security and sustainability of goods & services; to enable job creation and growth; to support global value chains and prevent fragmentation in the Single Market. It provides the state of play on the Joint Initiative on Standardisation, and measures taken to strengthen the inclusiveness of the European Standardisation System.

On 17 January, the European Economic & Social Committee (EESC) adopted an Opinion on European standardisation (COM(2017) 453 final). The EESC welcomes the Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation 2018, in particular the social and environmental actions, but recommends the inclusion of a summary of compliance with previous programmes in future versions. In addition, it also makes recommendations to the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) on the simplification of procedures to help the participation of Annex III organisations in the standards drafting process, in line with the objectives of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.

We welcome the EESC continuing to look to aid and strengthen consumer participation in standardisation, as in its earlier Opinions.

On 19 December 2017, the EC proposed to enhance checks of consumer goods available in the EU, such as toys, phones or TVs. In a press release (EU urges stricter checks for safer goods), ANEC & BEUC welcomed the EC’s efforts to advance consumer protection against faulty products. We see the proposal as a strong signal that consumers’ safety needs to be a priority. However, this is only a first step toward safe goods in the EU. The proposal should go further and include all consumer goods, not just the ones intended to bear CE marking. Moreover, new challenges arise for market surveillance with internet-connected products already coming into our homes, and the EU needs to be tough on ensuring these products are safe and ‘cyber secure’. It is Member States’ responsibility to see that only safe goods make their way into shops. We are pleased the EC considers increasing its resources to assist national authorities in this important task. However, it is not enough, and Member States should also increase their budgets for market checks.

The EU Commissioner for Justice and Consumers, Vĕra Jourová, presented the New Deal for Consumers at a joint meeting of the European Consumer Consultative Group (ECCG) and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPN) on 23 January in Brussels. She said Europe has good legislation but low enforcement records as the Dieselgate scandal showed. Hence public and private enforcement must improve. Consumer law enforcement (e.g. injunctions and redress) will be updated to deliver results for consumers. The aim is to have the package adopted before April 2019. ANEC welcomes the New Deal and believes it offers the chance to build momentum to increase consumer protection across the board.

Legislation that gives EU citizens the right to cross-border healthcare offers many potential benefits, but is still not working effectively, according to a new ANEC study published in mid-January.

Consumers are especially reluctant to seek planned medical treatment in other EU countries. The study reveals that lack of knowledge about rights and choices are key barriers to seeking planned treatment abroad. The study suggests that consumers could be missing out on state funding. Three in ten respondents who had received planned or unplanned treatment abroad reported problems, related mainly to the process of accessing care, receiving reimbursement, or resolving disputes. However, most patients reported high levels of satisfaction with the quality of their care.

The study highlights an urgent need to provide consumers consistent guidance about cross-border healthcare options, as well as for effective systems of consumer redress, in case of difficulties.

The study concludes with recommendations to relevant authorities and organisations, as well as to ANEC. The publication is accompanied by a leaflet of key facts.

Accessibility

ANEC at EP Disability Intergroup

The Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament held a New Year Reception on 23 January. The event was hosted by Marian Harkin MEP and opened by Yannis Vardakastanis, the President of the European Disability Forum (EDF). EDF manages the secretariat of the Intergroup.

ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell, gave an address on our common objectives with EDF, and our wishes and expectations from 2018.

Accessibility

Accessibility of lifts – EN 81-70

As reported in ed.7 of our newsletter, in July 2017, ANEC appealed against ratification of EN 81-70 ‘Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts. Particular applications for passenger and goods passenger lifts. Accessibility to lifts for persons including persons with disability’. We regretted that CEN TC 10 chose to change a requirement for the colour contrast of control panels from a minimum Light Reflectance Value (LRV) of 60 points to 30 points after the CEN Enquiry. In our view, an LRV of 30 is insufficient to ensure accessibility for people with visual impairments, and we note an LRV of 60 is the state-of-the-art according to related national and international standards.

A conciliation panel, comprising representatives of ANEC and TC 10 among others, met on 20 October and recommended that an independent study be carried out to establish the start-of-the-art for lift control panels. Regrettably, we learned at a meeting of the CEN Technical Board (BT/TCMG) on 5 December that the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) had declined to do the study. The TCMG meeting also decided to publish EN 81-70 while accepting that a study remains central to settling the ANEC appeal. A plenary meeting of the Technical Board (BT) on 6 February asked the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre to approach the EC to invite it to fund the study. Meanwhile, the EC is questioning whether EN 81-70 should be cited as providing presumption-of-conformity to the Lifts Directive (2014/33/EU).

ANEC considers EN 81-70 as a test of whether the European Standardisation System can respond effectively to the needs of all consumers, and think it particularly important with the inter-institutional dialogue on European standardisation now on the horizon. We can express only disappointment with the progress made since last July.

Digital Society

OFE roundtable on cybersecurity and certification

On 6 December, ANEC joined the roundtable ‘Cybersecurity and certification - leveraging international standards to build trust in the Digital Single Market’, organised by Open Forum Europe (OFE). The event gathered experts to discuss the regulatory framework for the cybersecurity certification of ICT products & services included in the proposal for a Regulation on Cybersecurity (‘Cybersecurity Act’), published by the EC in September 2017.

Chiara Giovannini, ANEC Deputy Secretary-General, stressed that certification systems can only be as good as the standards and requirements on which they are based. She added that the key is for consumers to be provided with reliable information.

New period for ANEC and ECOS collaboration

After a successful project in 2017, ANEC will continue working with ECOS for a further 15 months on an Ecodesign and energy-related standardisation project responding to Action 36 of the H2020 Work Programme 2016-2017: ‘Technical support to stakeholders on standardisation work for energy related products’.

Since December 2016, ANEC has enhanced the effective participation and contribution of consumers to standardisation processes related to the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Directives. By being represented in the meetings, following developments and providing contributions and comments to the work of several key technical committees, ANEC has provided added value to the standardisation process in this area, adding transparency and inclusiveness from a consumer perspective.

Child Safety

Phthalates in playground equipment

In light of the revision of EN 1176-10:2008 "Playground equipment and surfacing - Part 10: Additional specific safety requirements and test methods for fully enclosed play equipment", CEN TC 136 SC 1 WG9 ‘Inflatable play equipment’ asked ANEC to comment on the use of phthalates in playground equipment.

In reply, ANEC expert Dr Franz Fiala drafted an ANEC position paper which discusses the present regulatory situation in Europe concerning phthalates and looks to the future. It also identifies reference documents concerning phthalates and other problematic substances which may be useful in establishing normative requirements for chemicals in playground equipment in general, particularly for fully-enclosed equipment.

ANEC believes a more comprehensive approach is needed to address chemicals in such equipment, rather than focusing on a single group of substances (phthalates) in a single set of playground equipment. We will therefore ask TC 136 SC 1 to discuss a broader strategy for addressing chemicals in the standards series EN 1176, reflecting CEN Guide 16 ‘Guide for addressing chemicals in standards for consumer-relevant products’ and the sources it cites.

Domestic Appliances

New amendment to standard for robotic lawnmowers

In January, CENELEC published EN 50636-2-107:2015/A1:2018 ‘Safety of household and similar appliances - Part 2-107: Particular requirements for robotic battery powered electrical lawnmowers’.

ANEC supports the amendment, which introduces better protection of children through an extra probe test. Nevertheless, ANEC asked for some further improvements, such as the introduction of a warning not to allow bystanders to be in the vicinity or interfere with the machine when it is operating. We also called for the amendment to include a modification to the foot probe test to ensure no resulting injuries, as certain models could run over an adult foot without stopping either their forward motion or blades. We think the rejection of these proposals is a missed chance for the added improvement of the safety of robotic lawnmowers.

Child Safety

Safer play environment for children

In January, CEN published two European standards that will improve the play environment of children.

Spreading the word on assistance dogs for people with disabilities

Through ANEC, the European Guide Dog Federation (EGDF) is active in the work of CEN TC 452 ‘Assistance Dogs’ where the ANEC Representative is EGDF Honorary President, David Adams. Meanwhile, Judith Jones, the EDGF Executive Director, represents ANEC in CEN TC 452 WG1 ‘Terminology’. EGDF is encouraging its membership to become more involved in this work, and 15 countries so far participate in meetings of the TC and WG.

Given the lack of familiarity with European standardisation and its processes among the professionals who manage assistance dogs, Judith is dedicating time to ensuring the key messages reach those people who should be involved. At the EGDF conference in Malta last December, following the welcoming speech of the President of Malta, Judith spoke about the work and national involvement. The Chair of CEN TC 452, Dr Marijan Sesar, made a presentation about the process and achievements so far, while the Convenor of WG1, Peter van den Heijden, then led a panel of assistance dog professionals and TC members in an interactive session to with conference delegates.

On 30 January, Judith joined an EC meeting of the National Enforcement Bodies dealing with Regulation 1107/2006 on the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air. She was invited as the ANEC expert to explain the work of TC 452 to the air travel national bodies and importance of standardising the training of assistance dogs ahead of air travel with their handlers.

News from ANEC Members

ICELAND

In memory of Jóhannes Gunnarsson

It was with great sadness that we learned Jóhannes Gunnarsson, a long-standing member of the ANEC General Assembly, passed away on 6 January 2018, at the age of 68.

Jóhannes joined Neytendasamtökin, the Consumer Association of Iceland, in 1978 and served as its Chair for 30 years. He first represented Iceland in the ANEC General Assembly in 1998 and continued with much dedication until his retirement in 2017.

Our thoughts go to his family and friends.

SWEDEN

Take action on cognitive accessibility!

The Swedish Consumers’ Association recently launched a campaign on cognitive accessibility. The aim is to inspire more consumer representatives around Europe to address cognitive accessibility as an important factor for safe, conscious and sustainable consumption. A cognitively-accessible environment is beneficial to all, but essential for a consumer with cognitive impairments.

More information and materials for download can be found on the website of the Swedish Consumers’ Association.

Last April, the ETSI General Assembly approved the “3SI programme”. The programme aims to increase ETSI’s support to Annex III Organisations, and to facilitate participation of Annex III Organisations in ETSI standardisation. The first 3SI meeting was held on 24 October. ANEC expert, John Ketchell, was nominated by ANEC, ECOS, ETUC and SBS as their common candidate for election as 3SI Advocate. The Advocate should act as the point of contact for matters related to societal and SMEs interests in ETSI. We welcome that the ETSI Board elected Mr Ketchell as the Advocate on 30 November.

The workshop heard the results of the DG JUST and JRC collaborative project, ‘Consumer Product Safety - Injury Accident Data (CPS-IAData)’. The aim of the project was to examine the options available to give value to existing injury data sources, propose techniques for potential injury data interlinking and increase the use of online news data in support of market surveillance and consumer product safety policy work.

ANEC gave a presentation on injury data gaps. In order to develop standards that lead to safer products, and to defend the consumer interest during standards work, it is of utmost importance that accident and injury statistics are available. ANEC welcomed the project and stressed the need for a pan-European accident and injury database.

The findings of the project confirmed that injury data exits, but is often not known, not accessible and not comparable. There was agreement on the need for more communication and for more evidence of the work. The JRC will use the conclusions from the workshop in writing its final report.

In July, the EC issued guidelines to help national market surveillance authorities in checking products sold online. The guidelines interpret EU product law on e-commerce, offer practical guidance and best practices, as well as giving more information on communication to businesses and consumers on e-commerce.

Noting Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the lead up to Christmas, ANEC is supporting the #ThinkThenBuy campaign on social media, which aims at helping consumers buy safely on-line and avoid unnecessary risks.

We welcome publication by CENELEC of EN 50637:2017 ‘Medical electrical equipment - Particular requirements for the basic safety and essential performance of medical beds for children’.

ANEC expert, Herdis Storgaard, participated in the work of CENELEC TC 62 WG1 ‘Medical beds for children’ and contributed to the elaboration of a standard that offers a high level of child protection. EN 50637 applies to medical beds with nonadjustable and electrical/mechanical adjustable functions, with internal length of up to 180 cm.

Noting work of the subgroup on chemicals, established under the EC Toy Safety Expert Group, ANEC representative, Franz Fiala, presented a draft position paper on formamide to the September meeting of the subgroup. The paper discusses the need for possible content limits for formamide for toys intended for use by children under 36 months, or in toys intended to be placed in the mouth, to be added to Appendix C of the Toy Safety Directive in order to address possible health risks following ingestion of toy materials.

The paper concludes it is unlikely formamide is present in such toys in significant amounts and that, as a consequence, additional limits for formamide in Appendix C are not needed. The subgroup concurred with the ANEC position.

The final version of the position paper ‘Formamide in toys: no need for additional content-based limits in Appendix C of the Toy Safety Directive’ is available through the ANEC website.

Digital Society

How to secure consumer trust in the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things should bring social and economic benefits to consumers. But these benefits will be achieved only if the services and products consumers buy (or contract) are designed with trust, privacy, and security embedded.

ANEC, together with BEUC, Consumers International (CI) & ICRT, have identified the challenges and opportunities consumers may face in IoT and developed recommendations based on a set of principles which we consider essential to use if we are to build a thriving and trusted digital environment for consumers.

New standards on EMF to increase consumer protection

ANEC welcomes the publication of new CENELEC standards on human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) from mobile phones, RFID devices and broadcasting antennas that require the products be tested under conditions of reasonably foreseeable use, in line with applicable legislation (Radio Equipment Directive, 2014/53/EU).

The standards, developed by CENELEC TC 106X on ‘Electromagnetic fields in the human environment’ refer to established international safety limits protect consumers using smart phones etc. We must thank our experts, Philippe Capitaine from France and Harke Smits from The Netherlands, for their contributions to TC 106X.

EN 50360:2017 ‘Product standard to demonstrate the compliance of wireless communication devices, with the basic restrictions and exposure limit values related to human exposure to electromagnetic fields in the frequency range from 300 MHz to 6 GHz: devices used next to the ear’;

EN 50385:2017 ‘Product standard to demonstrate the compliance of base station equipment with radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure limits (110 MHz — 100 GHz), when placed on the market’

EN50401:2017 ‘Product standard to demonstrate the compliance of base station equipment with radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure limits (110 MHz — 100 GHz), when put into service

EN50566:2017 ‘Product standard to demonstrate the compliance of wireless communication devices with the basic restrictions and exposure limit values related to human exposure to electromagnetic fields in the frequency range from 30 MHz to 6 GHz: hand-held and body mounted devices in close proximity to the human body’

ANEC is seeking an expert on cybersecurity & data protection

ANEC seeks an expert to assist us in activities on the standardisation of cybersecurity and personal data protection & privacy. The work entails participation in meetings and providing expertise in terms of written comments, as well as advice to the ANEC Digital Society Working Group and ANEC Secretariat on work in the field. The expert will also represent ANEC in CEN-CENELEC/TC 13 on cybersecurity, and other relevant technical bodies.

The contract is for 12 months. A further contract may be awarded. ANEC will reimburse daily consultancy fees, travel and accommodation expenses.

Details on how to apply, and a complete description of the role, can be found in the vacancy notice.

German ban on children's smartwatches

The German Telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency, has banned the sale of smartwatches aimed at children, describing them as spying devices. Previously, the agency also banned the internet-connected doll, My Friend Cayla.

As reported in our previous newsletter, we joined a Transatlantic action against children’s smartwatches in October. The Norwegian Consumer Council, together with a security firm, analysed four smart watches available online and in Norwegian stores. The tests revealed that a stranger can take control of a smartwatch to track, listen, or talk to a child, all without the parent’s knowledge.

ANEC welcomes the German decision to ban smart watches for children and calls for Europe-wide measures to increase the security of such devices.

Domestic Appliances

7th Carbon Monoxide Round Table

ANEC participated in the 7th Carbon Monoxide Round Table held on 5 December in the EP.

The event, hosted by MEPs Linda McAvan and Marian Harkin, was divided into two sessions: the first one on health and safety in energy efficient buildings; the second on national approaches of inspections of HVAC systems (heating, ventilation en air conditioning).

To mark the round table, ANEC and Consumer Safety International re-launched our leaflet on Carbon Monoxide to warn consumers against the dangers of this ‘Silent Killer’. The leaflet explains that carbon monoxide has no colour, taste or smell and strikes without warning. Each year, carbon monoxide kills more people in Europe than HIV/Aids, alcohol abuse and skin cancer, and yet hundreds of thousands of people are unaware of its deadly potential. The leaflet gives consumers simple tips to recognise and prevent CO intoxication, and guidance on what to do in case of a CO poisoning. Please help spread the word by distributing the leaflet as widely as possible.

Earlier this year, ANEC supported the adoption by CEN of EN 1860-1/A1 “Appliances, solid fuels and firelighters for barbecuing – Part 1: Barbecues burning solid fuels - Requirements & test methods”. The amendment introduces a safety symbol to appear on barbecues in order to warn consumers not to use barbeques indoors because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Services

ANEC President speaks at European Tourism Day

ANEC President, Arnold Pindar, gave the consumer perspective in the section, ‘Businesses' adaptation to the evolution of tourism models and consumer expectations”, during which he exchanged views with Michel de Blust, Secretary-General of the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators' Association (ECTAA).

Key trends addressed were digitalisation and the sustainability of tourism services. Mr Pindar stressed, that although consumers demand change and evolve towards more digital means and personalised services, the consumer principles of access, safety, information, choice, redress, representation and sustainability must remain valid.

ANEC and Keep Me Posted EU

On 9 and 10 November in London, Keep Me Posted UK (KMPUK) and Royal Mail hosted the ‘Keep Me Posted EU (KMPEU) Campaigners’ Day in order to discuss progress in countries with or without a ‘Keep Me Posted’ campaign. ANEC President and Chair of the National Consumer Federation, Arnold Pindar, gave a presentation as a KMPUK supporter. He said the campaign’s aim to maintain choice and inclusiveness reflected consumer rights. A successful ‘Keep Me Posted’ campaign would ensure the most vulnerable in society have access to bills and statements on paper, regardless of whether the vulnerability was due to age, disability or financial issues.

Developing synergies between the DSM and Energy Union

On 27 November, the EC hosted an event on developing synergies between the Digital Single Market (DSM) and the Energy Union. The event included a live demonstration showcasing an interoperable smart grid based on standards, with a large and diversified group of suppliers covering the energy value chain.

The EC fostered creation of a common interoperability language - SAREF (Smart Appliances REFerence ontology) - which became a standard of ETSI and OneM2M (the global initiative for Internet of Things standardisation) in 2015. The aim of the event was to demonstrate the implementation of interoperability for demand-side flexibility using ETSI SAREF & oneM2M, together with CEN-CENELEC and IEC standards, and to discuss future needs.

Goodbye Inga!

Inga Filmer, a UK expert from the ANEC Domestic Appliances WG, and a former Vice-Chair, is retiring at the end of the year. Inga played an invaluable role in our campaign to revise the EN 60335 series of standards for electrical household appliances in order to take into account use by children, older people and people with disabilities.

We must thank Inga for her great commitment and enthusiasm in defending the consumer interest in standardisation, and in achieving consumer products that are safer for all.

On behalf of all in ANEC, we send Inga our very best wishes for the future.

Market surveillance of playground equipment

During 2015, the Swedish Consumer Agency and Boverket (the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning) worked with Sweden’s municipalities and county councils in performing market surveillance of playgrounds and playground equipment. Inspections of 26 playgrounds in five municipalities, distributed both geographically and in terms of size, were carried out by inspectors against the requirements of European safety standards for playground equipment (the EN 1176 series). In addition, accessibility for people with disabilities was checked.

ANEC welcomes an agreement between the European Commission (EC) and European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) to collaborate more closely in the assessment of standards providing presumption of conformity with legal requirements (“Harmonised Standards”).

In particular, we welcome the EC’s intention to put in place a solution to ensure the long-term sustainability of those experts (“New Approach Consultants”) engaged to assess the compliance of candidate Harmonised Standards with EC requests, and to strengthen their independence. An EC call for tender for a service contract to manage the Consultants was published only recently.

The plan, ‘Structural solutions to decrease the stock of non-cited harmonised standards’, can be found at https://goo.gl/trdhWr

On 17 October, a series of joint market surveillance actions was launched, funded by the EC. The duration of the joint actions is 26 months, with coordination among the Member States managed by PROSAFE. ANEC joined the launch event. The actions focus on child care articles (baby carriers and cots), electrical toys, power tools (impact drills), electrical household appliances (haircare appliances) and climbing equipment. Apart from the last, all these product groups feature in the ANEC work programme and so we shall participate as a stakeholder in these actions.

During the launch, ANEC repeated its call to the European Institutions to create a pan-European accident and injury database. We noted the setting of priorities for the actions had to be based on data from outside the EU.

On power tools, we touched upon the ‘rental market’ and asked for this to be reflected in the joint action. It was agreed that a product, even when rented, needs to be safe during its whole lifetime and should not harm the user when it fails. This aspect will be further discussed.

ANEC expert, Nikolaos Floratos, has been appointed an expert in the ETSI Specialist Task Force revising EN 301 549 in line with requirements of the Web Accessibility Directive.

A Harmonised Standard, based on EN 301 549 with added accessibility requirements for mobile applications, needs to be available when the Directive enters into force on 23 September 2018. Under Mandate M/544, the EC has asked the ESOs to revise the existing standard to cover the technical specifications on mobile applications. ETSI selected several experts (STF 536/BS) who will perform the revision under the coordination of ETSI TC Human Factors and CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Joint Working Group eAccessibility. ANEC is a member of both.

At the same time, the W3C is working on the next version of WCAG, called 2.1, where success criteria for the accessibility of mobile interfaces is one of three focus areas. Coordination is expected, although the Harmonised Standard needs to be published by 31 May 2018, earlier than the WCAG 2.1.

Requirements for ICT products & services that meet the needs of persons with cognitive and learning disabilities will be considered in a future revision of EN 301 549. Indeed, ANEC proposed the ETSI standards on cognitive impairments published last year.

Children in the EU have died due to falls of non-fixed goal posts. For many years, ANEC voiced its concern as the European standard for football goalposts dealt only with goalposts used during organised activities (such as training and competition). It did not take into account non-organised or leisure activities.

In answer to ANEC, CEN/TC 136/WG 22 ‘Gymnastic equipment’ agreed to work on new European standards for portable goals in 2010. EN 16579 ‘Playing field equipment - Portable and permanent socketed goals - Functional, safety requirements and test methods’ was adopted this month, with our support. An earlier standard, EN 16664 ‘Playing field equipment — Lightweight goals — Functional, safety requirements and test methods’, was adopted in April 2015. ANEC Representative, Sandra Nascimento, played a leading role in the drafting of both standards.

Some major retailers recently stopped selling sleep positioners following a warning from the US Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) about the risk of suffocation (goo.gl/4d3nZR).

As parents are instructed to put a child on its back in a cot or bed, these products are sold to keep the child in place. In October 2015, ANEC publicly expressed concern about sleep positioners.

If the positioner is made of a soft material such as foam, the child’s face may become pressed against the side of the product so risking breathing difficulties and suffocation. Moreover, if the product is fitted with a restraint system that encircles the child’s torso and the child wriggles downwards, there is the potential for the child to become trapped by the restraint and for airflow to the lungs to be limited. Certain positioners cover large areas of the child’s body causing the risk of overheating (hyperthermia). We are also aware of risks caused by small parts that may become detached, while the materials used may be flammable or feature flame retardants.

ANEC plans to commission a Technical Study in 2018 with the aim of ensuring appropriate European Standards reflect only conditions where children can sleep in safety.

Digital Society

“Cities set standards to become smarter and more sustainable”

On 19 October, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI hosted the event “Cities set standards to become smarter and more sustainable”. It was held to mark World Standards Day (14 October), dedicated to smart cities this year. With the support of the EC, it was an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the questions and answers revolving around the roll out of infrastructures, services, systems & devices for smart cities. The conclusions will be forwarded to the CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Sector Forum on Smart Sustainable Cities and Communities (SF-SSCC), in which ANEC participates.

ANEC expert, John Ketchell, spoke in the panel ‘Benchmarking & stakeholder needs for replication and scaling up’, and presented the citizens’ requirements for smart cities and what standards can do. He also spoke about the new work in ETSI TC ‘Human Factors’ on smart cities & communities standardisation which follows an ANEC proposal.

#WatchOut!

On 18 October, ANEC joined a coordinated action across the Atlantic against children’s smart watches. These have been shown to put children’s safety and privacy at risk. The smartwatches, intended to provide parents with peace of mind, are wearable mobile phones that use the internet and GPS to allow real-time tracking of children, and communication with them.

The Norwegian Consumer Council, together with a security firm, analysed four smart watches available online and in Norwegian stores. The tests revealed a stranger can take control of a smartwatch to track, listen, or talk to the child, all without a parent’s knowledge.

ANEC and BEUC have written to alert the European Commission (DG JUST, DG CNECT, DG GROW), the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), the European Union Agency for Network & Information Security (ENISA), Europol, and the Art 29 Committee (CNIL).

Domestic Appliances

EC Working Group on Gas Appliances

ANEC participated in the meeting of the EC Working Group on Gas Appliances on 12 October. Much of the meeting was dedicated to issues relating to the transition from the Gas Appliances Directive (GAD) to the Gas Appliances Regulation (GAR), the latter applicable from 21 April 2018.

Although there is a deadline of 21 October 2017 in the GAR for Member States to communicate the types of gas supply each uses, only a few Member States were ready to meet the deadline. ANEC expressed concern, as this information needs to be made available in order for manufacturers to design safe fittings and appliances. The EC reminded Member States of their responsibilities in this respect.

A joint market surveillance action, coordinated by the Administrative Cooperation Group (ADCO) of the GAD, featured a visual inspection of gas burners used in caravans and mobile homes. The results were disappointing. One-third of samples did not bear CE marking, surprising as products under the GAD/GAR require EC-type examination and assessment by a notified body. ANEC asked for a strengthening of market surveillance.

Domestic Appliances & Services

European Fire Information Exchange Platform (FIEP)

On 16 October, ANEC participated in the first meeting of the European Fire Information Exchange Platform (FIEP). It brought together representatives from 25 Member States and 25 European stakeholder organisations. The purpose of FIEP, announced by Commissioner Bieńkowska in her statement to the European Parliament’s Plenary on fire safety in buildings on 13 September, is to promote the cooperation between Member States and stakeholders in order to enhance the exchange of knowledge from fire events and good practices in fire-safety. Although fire safety is the responsibility of Member States’ authorities, the EC offered to take a facilitating role by bringing the actors together under this new FIEP. ANEC welcomes the setting up of FIEP and highlighted the need to look at the broader picture of fire safety, i.e. not only the fire resistance of building materials, but also the cause of the accident (e.g. a faulty refrigerator in the UK Grenfell Tower fire). We said prevention of fires is as important as the fire resistance of buildings once the fire has started.

We are pleased there was general agreement that coordinated and harmonised EU data and statistics are required in order to take further actions, and also that an holistic approach to fire safety is needed. The EC identified five areas for future work: data, fire prevention, lessons learnt from recent accidents, new products (solar panels, high rise buildings, green roofs) and fire safety engineering. ANEC looks forward to continuing to contribute to FIEP in order to protect consumers from fire and to save lives.

Services

EP report on cross-border parcel delivery approved by TRAN committee

On 12 October, the draft report on cross border parcel delivery, addressing the draft Regulation proposed by the EC, was approved by the Transport & Tourism (TRAN) committee of the European Parliament (EP). ANEC welcomes the adoption and congratulates Rapporteur MEP Anderson for having found compromises that enabled committee members to agree on the report, following the negative vote in July. Nevertheless, some requirements on affordable prices have been diluted and the transparency for consumers may also be reduced. Regardless, we believe its recommendations on consumer information, and role for European standards, could help improve the consumer trust in e-commerce and broader parcel delivery services.

The final report, as adopted by the TRAN Committee, was expected to be considered by the plenary on 23 October 2017. Trilogue discussions are due in the weeks to come.

The ANEC Representative in the CEN/TC 354 reported the New Approach Consultants consulted had a negative view on the draft, a position shared by our experts. ANEC submitted a “Non-Favourable” Opinion which will be discussed by CEN/TC 354 in the next weeks.

Other

SBS Annual Conference

ANEC attended the Small Business Standards (SBS) Annual Conference on 10 October. The theme was ‘The European Standardisation Regulation - 5 years on. What has changed for SMEs?’ The aim was to increase awareness among regulators, policy-makers, and other stakeholders of the situation of SMEs in standardisation five years after adoption of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012. The discussions focused on the importance of an open, transparent and inclusive standardisation system, which ANEC supports.

News from ANEC Members

France

French consumer protection organisation disbanded

It is with sadness that ANEC learned of the disbandment of CSC, the French Commission on Consumer Safety. This disbandment follows a decision of the French government for financial reasons. CSC, created by an Act of 21 July 1983, was a long-time contributor to ANEC and activities of the ANEC Working Groups.

Over its lifetime, CSC issued almost 300 opinions across a wide range of fields, including toys, childcare articles and recreation. It recommended additional measures aimed at professionals, consumers, standardisers, and public authorities. This role transfers to the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs & Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF).

ANEC thanks CSC for its valuable contributions to ANEC over many years, and for the commitment of its staff in helping us defend the consumer interest in standardisation.

In September 2017, ANEC issued a position paper on the Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation 2018 with our views on general aspects of consumer relevance, as well as on the actions to be implemented in 2018. We focus especially on actions in support of the Digital Single Market Strategy, deeper and fairer Internal Market, Inclusiveness, and the Joint Initiative on Standardisation (JIS).

For all too long, ANEC has been pressing for regulatory action, underpinned by standards, to increase the access of consumers of all ages and abilities to everyday products and services. We welcomed the support of the European Parliament (EP), in its vote on 14 September, for the European Accessibility Act. We are pleased MEPs listened to disability organisations and ANEC, and supported several improvements, such as the need to include access to the built environment. Nevertheless, we regret a blanket exemption to microenterprises that has been granted. We shall now press the Council to support an ambitious European Accessibility Act which delivers for consumers and business alike.

A workshop on making ICT standards fit for ‘active and healthy ageing’ will take place on 19 October 2017 at the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre in Brussels.

The Telehealth Quality Group is part of the EC funded PROGRESSIVE project that is working on standards related to ICT and ‘Active and Healthy Ageing (AHA).’ This includes attention to smart homes; telecare and telehealth; the age-friendly design of products and services; and issues around interoperability. An interactive platform, which will give access to a range of relevant standards, is being developed and will be launched at the event.

PROGRESSIVE, which is supported by ANEC, aims to ensure that standards confront ageism and engage with and empower older consumers in meaningful ways - whether relating to the workplace, travel, education, or health. The main objective of the workshop is to promote a debate about the issues and appraise the direction of the project.

prEN 81-70 ‘Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts. Particular applications for passenger and goods passenger lifts. Accessibility to lifts for persons including persons with disability’ was submitted to CEN Enquiry in summer 2016.

ANEC supported the draft but sent comments. In general, we thought a good compromise had been found between consumer (users with visual impairments in particular) and industry needs. Unfortunately, a substantial change to the contrast requirements for symbols on push buttons was introduced after the public comment phase. Hence, as we reported earlier, ANEC did not support the launch of Formal Vote on adoption of the standard as we do not agree with the change of contrast requirement. We believe a Light Reflectance Value (LRV) of 60 is needed for signage/symbols on push buttons, compared with the 30 proposed. The lower value does not meet the needs of people with visual impairment, and does not correspond to the state-of-the-art as several countries have higher requirements.

Notwithstanding our objection, and a ‘Not Favourable’ Opinion on FprEN 81-70, the standard was adopted by CEN. We have therefore appealed against ratification of the standard and it cannot be published until the appeal is resolved. The appeal will be heard in October, and we trust a solution can be found that will enable all consumers to have confidence in the value of standardisation.

Chemicals

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - many of which are carcinogens - has long been an issue of concern. REACH restricts PAHs in toys and childcare articles. However, the exposure of children to PAHs via materials in children’s articles, such as clothing and toys, remains of great concern.

A recent test by the Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals found all the 13 children’s rubber boots tested contained PAHs. The authorities have been notified about one pair of rubber boots that contained short-chained chlorinated paraffins, which are suspected to be endocrine disrupting and carcinogenic, above the permitted Danish limit. Several boots were also found to contain a problematic PAH called naphthalene, a suspected carcinogen. The issue does not only lie in the substance being in the rubber boot alone: as phthalates can be absorbed through the skin, the combined exposure to chemicals from many different sources can lead to increased risk. More information can be found via The Danish Consumer Council THINK.

Meanwhile, the Committee on Standards is to vote on the adoption of an EC Implementing Decision on a standardisation request (ex-mandate) regarding compliance with maximum content criteria of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in rubber and plastic. ANEC contributed to the drafting of the request. It asks for development of harmonised standard(s) that enable the analytical determination of the individual concentrations of eight carcinogenic PAHs listed in REACH.

Child Safety

Standard for toy finger-paints

In February, ANEC expressed disagreement and sent a ‘Not Favourable’ Opinion concerning the Enquiry on EN 71-7/prA1 ‘Safety of toys – Part 7: Finger paints – Requirements and test methods’. We asked for the deletion of several chemical substances used in finger paints, in line with the Cosmetics Regulation. Several CEN members and the European Commission (EC) added voice to our concerns. We were pleased to see these concerns addressed in the post-Enquiry consideration by CEN/TC 52 and hence submitted a ‘Favourable’ Opinion during the Formal Vote in July. EN 71-7 was adopted, and made available on 27 September.

Digital Society

SATORI Project - Final Conference

The SATORI project is a 45-month project on ethics assessment of research and innovation (R&I) supported by the EC through its FP7 funding scheme. SATORI comprises 16 partners from 12 countries and is co-ordinated by the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

The SATORI project final conference “Ethics Assessment of Research and Innovation: Looking to the Future” was held on 18-19 September in Brussels.

Chiara Giovannini, ANEC Senior Manager & Deputy Secretary-General, joined the conference as member of the Advisory Board. The conference discussed ethical issues in R&I frameworks and standards, methods for enhancing ethics assessment in R&I, and ways to support the activities of research ethics committees.

The final deliverables of the project (CEN Workshop Agreements) are available here.

Domestic Appliances

Domestic spas and hot tubs

In August, ANEC submitted comments and ‘Not-favourable’ Opinion on the Enquiry of prEN 17125 “Domestic spas and hot tubs - Safety requirements and test methods", prepared by CEN/TC 402, as the draft fails to address the key safety issue adequately, which is to prevent children from drowning. We are aware of deaths by drowning associated with these products. Although noting the role of adult supervision, ANEC believes a safety cover to be an essential part of a factory-built spa and there should be a requirement in the standard for its provision and safety-related performance.

Moreover, advice provided at the point-of-sale should emphasise the need for, and use of, a safety cover for spas not provided with them by the manufacturer.

ANEC discusses “white goods” fires

The ANEC Domestic Appliances Working Group (WG) met in Prague on 20-21 September.

Among other items, the WG discussed the recent fires in the UK, caused by refrigerators and other electrical household appliances, which led to a high number of fatalities. We have been looking for accident data from other countries to see whether fires there have similar causes but the lack of an-EU accident data system has proved again that it is very difficult to draw conclusions from the data available.

The British Electrotechnical Committee has proposed that CENELEC revises EN 60335-2-24: 2010/prA2:2017 ‘Household and similar electrical appliances – Safety – Part 2-24: Particular requirements for refrigerating appliances, ice-cream appliances and ice-makers’. ANEC supports this proposal. Furthermore, we will continue to collaborate on this issue with our UK members, as well as the Electrical Safety First charity and London Fire Brigade. Meanwhile, useful information for consumers is available on the websites of ‘Which?’, Electrical Safety First, and the London Fire Brigade.

Eco-design

The role of marking in material efficiency

In June, CEN-CENELEC/TC 10/WG 6 ‘Energy-related products - Material Efficiency Aspects for Ecodesign’ met to discuss ideas on establishing information levels and markings regarding material efficiency. It is important to note that information consists not only of marking but also includes documentation. ANEC is active in this area as unbiased information and proper documentation plays a key role for consumers. The approach presently discussed focuses on ‘Information and/or marking’ which would mean not all products necessarily having particular marking. However, ANEC stressed that proper material efficiency marking should be available on the products and aimed at consumers.

In terms of information, three main levels were identified: confidential, restricted and public. The documents and information to be provided under a certain level should be decided by the manufacturer (as owner of the information) and regulation. ANEC insists that manuals should not be considered restricted information as they are needed by skilled technology enthusiasts.

The study highlights that, although consumer rights apply to the service the platforms offer to peers, rules tend not to be tailored to P2P transactions online, and do not facilitate easy access to redress. Uncertainty as to whether some providers (AirBnB, Uber) act as a private person or as a business creates equal confusion about whether consumer rights apply. Other platforms exclude (BlaBlaCar, easyCarClub) or identify (eBay, Wimdu)professional or business providers.

Ahead of assessing the possible role of standards in supporting legislation on transparency and fairness in the Sharing Economy, ANEC has nominated an expert to ISO/COPOLCO TG 5 ‘Sharing economy’. The main scope of its work will be to identify consumer challenges and priorities, as well as the methodologies used in different countries to address these. The conclusions of the work should support future standardisation activities.

Sustainability

Keeping hazards in the circle?

As part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the EC committed to analyse the interfaces among chemicals, products and waste legislation and recommend policy options by the end of 2017. In this context, ANEC contributed to a targeted consultation with a new position paper entitled ‘Keeping hazards in the circle?’.

We believe that, for a circular economy approach to be effective, there needs to be a stronger focus on reuse and reduction in the consumption of materials and creation of waste. Recycling must be part of a greater concept of resource saving that leads to high quality products that do not expose the consumer or the environment to detrimental effects. Part of this includes ensuring that hazardous substances are eliminated from the beginning of the product cycle.

ANEC recommends that legal provisions for chemicals in virgin materials be strengthened by implementing sectoral product legislation. Also, specific provisions should be developed to facilitate recycling aimed at reducing the variety of materials, including their chemical composition, to make them "fit for recycling". However, present European regulatory provisions for chemicals in products do not go far enough. The development of a European regulatory framework for chemicals in products needs to occur urgently. An area which needs further regulation is on the presence of substances of concern in recycled materials. ANEC recommends that substances that are present in recovered materials should not be treated differently from substances contained in virgin materials.

Developing further regulation and frameworks is made difficult by a lack of information about substances of concern in products and waste. Therefore, regulatory measures and sectoral product legislation that contain information provisions need to be significantly strengthened. Part of this is the elimination of SVHCs and other substances of concern from materials and products, as well as the enhancement of substance specific restrictions. It is also necessary to improve end-of-waste criteria including chemical provisions (restrictions as well as monitoring obligations).

A real commitment to reduce material and energy flows and to develop a strategy to address chemicals in consumer products is crucial to achieve a non-toxic environment for Europe.

Traffic & Mobility

Market Surveillance of Tyres (MSTYR15)

The PROSAFE-coordinated action, Market Surveillance for Tyres, is advancing and the second newsletter was published in August to highlight what has been achieved so far.

The first laboratory test results for tyres are available to market surveillance authorities, who are deciding how to act in cases where non-compliance was detected.

In parallel, the participants have started to review the technical documentation of tyres while continuing the label inspections. For more, please see the second MSTyr15 newsletter and the MSTyr15 website for updates.

With standards playing a key role to protect consumers, workers and the environment, the participation of civil society becomes fundamental to their development. Add to this the ability standards have in supporting the implementation of laws and policies, including in areas of public interest, and there is no question about the need to involve civil society, and ANEC as the European representative of the consumer interest, in the European Standardisation System.

BSI hosts CEN-CENELEC Annual Meetings

The Annual Meetings of CEN and CENELEC were held on 20-21 June 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland, hosted by the British Standards Institution (BSI). The CEN and CENELEC Annual Reports 2016 were published in conjunction with the meetings and are available on the CEN-CENELEC website. BSI also hosted the complementary event, ‘Standards Matter’, on 22 June, focusing on the role of standards the digital world. ANEC Senior Manager, Chiara Giovannini, participated in panel discussions that confirmed the importance of standards in ensuring consumer privacy and security-by-design. A key conclusion of the discussion was the need to develop standards on cybersecurity.

Revision of CEN-CENELEC Guide 25 published

In July, CEN-CENLEC published the second edition of CEN-CENELEC Guide 25 ‘The concept of Partnership with European Organisations and other stakeholders’.

The revision includes the specific rights given by CEN-CENELEC to the Societal Partner Organisations representing consumers (ANEC), environmental (ECOS) and social interests (ETUC) in European standardisation activities, in line with Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 on European standardisation.

European Parliament Resolution, ‘Standards for the 21st Century’

On 4 July, the European Parliament (EP) plenary adopted a Resolution endorsing the Report, ‘European standards for the 21st century’. The Report had been adopted on 30 May by the Internal Market & Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee in response to the European Commission’s ‘Standardisation Package II’ of 1 June 2016. The Rapporteur was Marlene Mizzi MEP. ANEC believes the 85 recommendations of the Report to represent a fair compromise of the different stakeholder interests. A central recommendation is for the EC to ensure it maintains sufficient resources to fulfil the objectives of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 on European standardisation, in order to contribute to both business competitiveness and consumer protection.

ANEC achieves further work on child-appealing products

Further to continued pressure from ANEC, CENELEC TC 61 WG8 ‘Child-appealing electrical appliances’ re-started its activities with a meeting in April 2017. The meeting addressed the possible revision of a clause and associated Note in EN 60335-1 ‘Household and similar electrical appliances. Safety. General requirements’ concerning child-appealing electrical appliances. ANEC appreciates that the meeting appeared to accept that the term “toy-like appliance” is inappropriate, and that the current clause is not useful in ensuring that appliances which appeal to children and might be hazardous are not approved under the standard. ANEC believes a child’s interaction with an appliance to be more important than the deliberate use of an appliance, especially in the case of very young children who have no concept of danger. A new version of clause 22.44 to EN 60335-1 has been prepared on which ANEC commented in July. The new clause will be supported by a rationale, drafted by ANEC, to outline issues of children’s exploratory behaviour, as well as the concepts of “child-appealingness” and danger.

Formal objection against EN for grills and toasters

Further to the Formal Objection from Germany and Norway against EN 60335-2-9 due to excessive temperature limits for grills and toasters, the EC is proceeding with adoption of a draft Implementing Decision and its publication in the OJEU. CENELEC TC 61 WG1 has also created a task force that will establish temperature limits in accordance with CENELEC Guides 29 and 32. ANEC will participate in the first meeting of this task force on 23 August. Following an ANEC intervention at the Low Voltage Directive Working Party meeting in April, the TC 61 Chair has confirmed that the Formal Objection could lead TC 61 to review ALL the relevant standards. This is what ANEC has sought for many years and could represent a big step forward for consumer protection.

Some MEPs even suggested to ask the European Commission to withdraw the proposal. These amendments were not approved and the European Commission instead fully supports the European Parliament finding a viable solution as soon as possible. The European Parliament will reconsider the draft’s future after the summer break.

We find the TRAN vote a missed opportunity for increasing consumer trust in cross-border parcel delivery services and creating a level-playing field for all operators. Indeed, we saw a chance to provide some beneficial requirements for affordability, information provision and accessibility, supported by European standards. We hope the proposal will be reconsidered so improvements to the transparency and affordability of the cross-border parcel delivery market do not have to wait until a revision of the Postal Services Directive.

An official UN World Consumer Protection Week?

An agreement of national consumer protection ministries and agencies has been reached on a proposal for the United Nations to observe World Consumer Protection Week officially. The proposal calls for the week to be held annually in the week in which 15 March falls. The proposal will now be passed to the UN General Assembly later this year for a final decision. For more information, please visit the website of our colleagues in Consumers International.

The 28th ANEC General Assembly meeting was held on 15-16 June at the Thon Hotel EU in Brussels. It saw the participation of members from 28 countries, including Serbia as our newest member country, as well as representatives from the European Commission, EFTA Secretariat and BEUC.

Members elected Arnold Pindar (UK) as President for the 2017 to 2019 term; Dermott Jewell (IE) as Vice-President and Benedicte Federspiel (DK) as Treasurer. Among those elected to the Steering Committee (the board of the association) were new appointees, Loucas Aristodemou (CY), Francis E Farrugia (MT) and Marijana Lonchar-Velkova (MK).

A Dutch study has found electromagnetic interference can harm the accuracy of readings taken from smart meters. In controlled laboratory experiments, smart meters were tested using Compact Fluorescent Lamps (energy-saving lamps), LED lamps and other equipment that generates electromagnetic interference. The tests revealed some meters showed an increase in energy reading of up to plus 376%, while others showed a decrease in energy reading of up to minus 54%. The research concludes the principal cause of interference appears to be the current sensor design.

ANEC is worried about these results. The errors pose the risk that some consumers with smart meters could be overcharged. This may also have consequences for consumer confidence in smart meters. We therefore call for further independent research on electromagnetic interference in domestic environments and metering. We have also urged the CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Coordination Group on Smart Meters to check whether the existing immunity standards adequately cover smart metering systems.

Although compliance with the standards does not give a presumption of conformity to the Toy Safety Directive, national authorities often use them to demonstrate the safety of toys. We believe the three standards need to be revised, not only to bring them into line with the state-of-the-art, but to broaden their scopes and to raise their ambition so that children will be protected more effectively from many potentially-hazardous organic chemicals in toys.

ANEC opposes a CEN proposal to ISO to adopt EN 14375 ‘Child-resistant non-reclosable packaging for pharmaceutical products - Requirements and testing’ as an ISO standard. Several years ago, we lobbied against adoption of the standard as it entirely ignores the toxicity of the pharmaceutical products.

Indeed, we commissioned a study in 2001 which provided evidence that the ingestion of only a few pharmaceutical tablets can seriously harm children. Occasionally, a fraction of one tablet can kill a child.

ANEC has long campaigned for a strong and ambitious European Accessibility Act (EAA) as we believe the EAA has the potential to improve people’s everyday lives as well as to increase business competitiveness and innovation.

Following the EP Internal Market & Consumer Protection Committee’s (IMCO) adoption of a disappointing report on the EAA in April, and the concerns voiced by some Member States about its potential financial impact, ANEC thought it important to invite decision makers and journalists for ‘eCoffee’ to discuss the Act and achieving a more accessible Europe.

Hence, on 6 June, ahead of the adoption of the IMCO report by the EP plenary and the Council, ANEC, AGE and EDF hosted a well-attended webinar to debate the EAA and its implications. See the presentation here and be kept informed on the #AccessibilityAct by following us on Twitter, @anectweet.

Collaborative platforms and online reviews

The study identifies five key consumer issues emerging from the collaborative economy, ranging from lack of transparency regarding transactions and applicable consumer rights and obligations, to reliability of peer review and rating systems. Also, discrepancy was found between exclusion of platform responsibility and liability for the performance of online P2P transactions and platform practices. Other problems relate to access to redress for peer consumers and peer providers, and data use and protection.

Anita Fokkema (DG JUST) presented the study results at the ANEC Services WG meeting on 14 June, especially noting the problems with user reviews and ratings identified in the final report. Given the lack of reliability of user reviews and ratings, it is hoped that the Commission will consider legislative steps to improve transparency and responsible P2P practices in the framework of the REFIT of consumer law.

Regarding online reviews, ANEC is developing additional comments on ISO/DIS 20488 ‘Online consumer reviews - Principles and requirements for their collection, moderation and publication’. ANEC trusts the resulting standard will offer a code of conduct that can contribute to increased transparency.

Controversial nano-observatory launched

ECHA launched the EU Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) via a dedicated website on 14 June. The website aims at describing what nanomaterials are and where they are used today. It is also intended to provide information about safety and health issues, research, regulation, and international activities.

Organisations for the protection of consumers, environment and health will not attend a stakeholder dialogue meeting on EUON planned for the end of June, as EUON does not meet their long-standing wish for European nano-register.

The ANEC concerns were well-considered in the draft report by MEP Anderson, and the amendments proposed meanwhile in the TRAN committee will be voted on in July.

On 31 May, the Council agreed its 'general approach' on the draft regulation. Council believes improved price transparency and better oversight should make the market more efficient and help bring down tariffs that are not justified by objective factors, such as wages or geographical distance. Under the Council general approach, the EC must set up a website to display the cross-border delivery rates offered by firms. This dedicated website should make it easier for consumers and users to compare rates and choose the most appropriate.

Review of passenger ship safety

On 15 June, the Council came to informal agreement with the EP on a revised directive on passenger ship safety rules and standards. The directive aims to clarify and simplify the current technical rules in pursuit of easier enforcement and monitoring.

It sets out detailed technical requirements for ships in areas such as construction, stability and fire protection. It applies to ships made of steel or equivalent material, and thus covers most modern passenger ships. The new rules leave small ships (under 24 metres) to be regulated at national level, reflecting the fact that these ships are more sensitive to local operating conditions and in general present a lower risk.

Informal agreement has also been reached with the EP on new rules to digitalise the registration of ship passengers. The purpose is to make the exact number of passengers and other information immediately available for search and rescue services in the event of an accident.

Is the cleaner half full or (half) empty?

ANEC follows the work of CENELEC TC 59X WG 6 on vacuum cleaners. One topic is the performance tests for cleaners with partly-loaded (dust and waste) receptacles, notably the definition of ‘partly loaded’, the reliability of the test method, and its fairness when applied to the various types and sizes of vacuum cleaners. The consumer concern is that testing with an empty receptacle is not representative of real-life use. At the meeting of WG 6 in May, we stressed the need for an acceptable test procedure with partly-loaded receptacles. We also called for consumer organisations to be involved in the creation of a study on consumer behaviour that will inform the discussion on legislative measures for vacuum cleaners.

Meanwhile, a TC 59X ad-hoc group has prepared a paper that considers ways to assess how standards can reflect real-life use while offering the repeatability and reproducibility necessary to support eco-design and energy labelling legislation.

ANEC replies on FinTech

Our position expresses our views on how to protect consumers in the development of European Standards on FinTech. Regrettably the consultation links standards exclusively to the role of industry, even though there is European legislation which recognises that standardisation concerns a spectrum of stakeholders, including consumers.

We think some consumer issues cannot be addressed only by legislation, and standards should play a role as they can define the way in which a product or service is designed or provided, before it is placed on the market.

Market Surveillance Action for Tyres 2015

The first Newsletter of the Market Surveillance Action for Tyres 2015 (MSTyr15) was published by PROSAFE in May 2017. Prosafe intends to make it a regular publication to provide news about the MSTyr15 project which involves checks on 15.000 tyres, 1.500 inspections of technical documents and the testing of 150 models of tyres. These actions will be translated into other languages to have greater reach.

ANEC is a member of the advisory board of MSTyr15 which runs from 2016 to 2018.

International Ergonomics Association Congress, August 2018

The 20th International Ergonomics Association Congress will take place on 26-30 August 2018 in Florence. The event will be hosted by the Italian Society of Ergonomics and its theme is “Creativity in Practice”. It will be an occasion not only to share research and case studies, but to network with professionals from other countries.

The IEA wants to develop new scientific proposals for symposia and workshops on:

A call for papers opens on 30 June 2017. For more information, contact Isabella Steffan (info@studiosteffan.it).

SEED and the Silver Economy

SEED is a EU-funded project under the Horizon 2020 programme. It aims to celebrate innovative ICT-related products or services that help to improve the quality of life of our senior citizens, and so strengthen the European silver economy.

The project started on 1 October 2016 and will end in September 2018. SEED, with its nine partners across Europe, is designed to ensure the successful launching of a visible and sustainable European-level award scheme that rewards innovative solutions which demonstrate a significant impact on the quality of life of the ageing population. The new scheme will rely upon a conceptual and operational approach. It is envisaged that the award scheme will be maintained under the auspices of the recently-launched European Covenant on Demographic Change, of which ANEC is a member.

The first award call was launched in June with deadline of 15 November 2017. For more information, please visit the website.

At the ETSI General Assembly on 4 April, ANEC welcomed the 3SI programme for societal stakeholders which was approved by ETSI members. The new arrangements provide a balanced and proportionate mechanism for addressing societal stakeholder concerns, and we await a first dedicated meeting as part of a continuing dialogue between ETSI and the societal stakeholder organisations recognised under Annex III to Regulation 1025/2012. This meeting should also discuss the precise role of a 3SI Advocate in furthering the dialogue. It also still needed to be considered whether some minor changes to the ETSI Directives are required, given the decision to remove Annex III Organisations from being part of a national delegation.

Stephen Russell, ANEC Secretary-General, commented, “The convergence of technologies makes it essential to strengthen the consumer voice throughout the European Standardisation System. ANEC warmly welcomes these steps taken by ETSI towards deepened collaboration”.

On 25 April, the European Parliament’s Internal Market & Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) adopted its report on the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The report is the result of a compromise and, although ANEC welcomes aspects of the report, we regret that the vote excludes small companies and several consumer products from the scope of the proposal. The next step of the procedure is the adoption by the EP plenary in the coming months, as well as by the Council of Ministers.

ANEC will continue to press for a stronger EAA that takes into account the needs of all consumers.

In April, ANEC sent its preliminary views on the draft Annual Union Work Programme (AUWP) for European Standardisation 2018 to the European Commission. As an observer in the Committee on Standards (CoS), ANEC commented on the previous AUWPs and welcomes the opportunity to submit further views.

We commented on the specific actions proposed in the draft AUWP, and proposed several new Standardisation Requests in the areas of Internet of Things, electronic signatures, and accessibility. In addition, we submitted general comments on the inclusiveness of the European Standardisation System, ICT standardisation, services standardisation, and the compliance assessment of standards with legislation and policies.

On 29 March, as part of an initiative of the Maltese Presidency of the Council and the European Commission, European transport ministers signed the “Valetta Declaration” on road safety during a High-Level Ministerial Conference held in Malta. ANEC welcomes the Valletta Declaration as a further move to improve road safety.

EU-wide road safety statistics show a fall of only 2% in the fatalities recorded last year. This small fall indicates that it is becoming ever more challenging to meet the target of halving road deaths by 2020. The European Commission also reports that 135.000 people were seriously injured on EU roads. The social costs (rehabilitation, healthcare, material damages, etc.) of road fatalities and injuries is estimated to be at least 100 billion euros annually.

ANEC welcomes the adoption by CEN of EN 16948 ‘Child protective products – Consumer-fitted child-resistant locking devices for cupboards and drawers - Safety requirements and test methods’. These devices keep a drawer or cupboard door closed, or restrict its opening by young children. It is the third standard to be developed by CEN/TC 398 on child protective products, following publication of EN 16281 on devices for windows and balcony doors, and EN 16654 on devices for doors.

CEN/TC 398 originated as CEN/BT WG 184, which arose from the recommendations of a research project commissioned by ANEC on child protective products.

FprEN 81-70 on accessibility of lifts

FprEN 81-70 ‘Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts. Particular applications for passenger and goods passenger lifts. Accessibility to lifts for persons including persons with disability’ is has been submitted to Formal Vote in CEN until 25 May 2017.

As reported in our newsletter last year, ANEC fundamentally disagreed with the CEN/TC 10 decision to launch the Formal Vote. Its WG7 introduced a substantial change after the public enquiry to the contrast requirements for symbols on push buttons. This change will adversely affect the accessibility of lifts to those with visual impairments. Unfortunately, most CEN/TC 10 members confirmed the decision to proceed with Formal Vote. ANEC is against the approval of prEN 81-70, with the minimum LRV point difference of 30 (Annex C of FprEN 81-70 on touch screens), because it does not correspond to the state of the art, and several countries have higher requirements.

New pictogram warns consumers not to use barbecues indoors

ANEC welcomes the adoption by CEN members of EN 1860-1/A1 “Appliances, solid fuels and firelighters for barbecuing – Part 1: Barbecues burning solid fuels - Requirements & test methods”. The amendment introduces a safety symbol to appear on barbecues in order to warn consumers not to use barbeques indoors because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Some consumers use barbecue grills to heat a tent or caravan, or to cook in case of rain. Nevertheless, ANEC regrets a delay in the adoption of the amendment, during which time accidents continued to happen. In 2013, we urged CEN/TC 281/WG1 to seek advice from ISO as we did not believe the then proposed symbol met ISO 3864-3 “Safety sign design principles”. Unfortunately, ISO/TC 145/SC2/WG1 was asked only later and its advice in 2016 confirmed our view that the symbol was not compliant. We were able to support the complaint symbol defined in the draft amendment sent to Formal Vote earlier this year.

ANEC Digital Society WG discusses cybersecurity

The annual meeting of the ANEC Digital Society Working Group was held on 24-25 April 2017 in Brussels. The ANEC experts were joined by Alina Iatan, Programme Manager - Sustainability& Services – Standards at CEN-CENELEC, who presented the CEN-CENELEC cybersecurity and privacy standardisation strategy. A discussion followed on how to improve privacy and security standards to the benefit of consumers in areas such as the Internet of Things. Guy Van Peel, Digital Consumption Expert at Test-Achats, joined the discussion.

Standard to help consumer (pedal) power

The standard covers EPACs of a type that has a maximum continuous rated power of 250W, of which the output is reduced and then cut as the EPAC reaches a speed of 25 km/h (or sooner if the cyclist stops pedalling). Furthermore, it specifies safety requirements and test methods for the assessment of the design and the assembly of EPACs and sub-assemblies for systems using battery voltage up to 48V DC or an integrated battery charger with 230V input.

ANEC participated in the work. The new standard replaces EN 15194:2009+A1:2011 and will be referenced in the Official Journal of the European Union as a harmonised standard.

Domestic products used in non-domestic settings

ANEC commissioned a technical study to determine whether children are at increased risk of serious injury as a result of domestic products being used in non-domestic settings.

AIJU, the contractor of the study, concluded that high chairs, baby prams and pushchairs, changing tables, cots, bunk beds and baby beds are more frequently involved in incidents than others, considering the data consulted. Falls were the most common accident and the leading cause of injury to children using child care articles in non-domestic settings. Hence aspects such as stability, structural integrity and durability should be addressed to improve safety.

After the grouping of hazards not now covered by the European standards for these products, the study proposes further safety requirements and test methods to be considered in the revision of the standards.

Progress on Ecodesign standardisation

As we reported earlier, ANEC and ECOS joined forces in the standardisation work related to the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Directives to represent environmental and consumer interests.

Meanwhile, work in CEN-CENELEC TC 10 on Material Efficiency Aspects for Ecodesign has started. This Technical Committee was tasked to develop horizontal standards on material efficiency aspects of energy-related products. These generic standards will lay the basis for metrics to assess a product’s resource efficiency. ANEC participates in the work on durability; upgradability, repairability and re-use and documentation/marking information relating to the product’s material efficiency.

In the past months, the working groups of TC 10 have prepared first outlines for several new standards in these areas. At the beginning of May, the national members of CEN-CENELEC approved these proposals. ANEC also supported the approval of the items and is looking forward to contributing to the upcoming work.

We are also closely following the advancements on the Ecodesign of products in the work of CENELEC TC 59X "Performance of household and similar electrical appliances" that are relevant to consumers. For instance, WG7 on smart appliances has finished its work on EN 50631-1, a standard dealing with generic requirements for household appliances that are connected to the smart grid. Next, it will prepare standards for product-specific requirements in the EN 50631 series.

15 March is World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD). This year’s theme was ‘Building a digital world consumers can trust’. To mark the day, ANEC, CEN-CENELEC and the DIN Consumer Council produced an infographic 'European Standards building a #BetterDigitalWorld consumers can trust'. In addition, this year's German Presidency of the G20 included a G20 Consumer Summit (#G20Consumers) for the first time. The Summit – ‘building a digital world consumers trust’ – organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice & Consumer Protection (BMJV), Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) and Consumers International (CI) was held in Berlin, also on 15 March. Sadie Homer, BSI’s Consumer & Public Interest Policy Executive, spoke on how standards can help 'deliver digital' and build consumer trust. She also spoke about the proposal for standards on privacy by design made to ISO by BSI, ISO/COPOLCO and ANEC.

The European Consumer Day 2017 was held in Malta on 21 March, hosted by the European Economic & Social Committee (EESC). The event had the theme, ‘The Digital Single Market: How does it benefit consumers?’. The detailed programme is available at this link.

ANEC was represented by Jens Henriksson, Swedish member of the General Assembly, who spoke on the need for the digital society to encompass all consumers, regardless of age or ability. His presentation was part of a panel on the threats and opportunities posed by the Digital Single Market.

After several months of inter-institutional negotiations, which ANEC followed closely, the three EU institutions have struck a deal on the EU Energy label. We can welcome that agreement has been reached and that the well-known A-G scale will return to the shops as a result. However, it is a disappointment that, for some products, consumers will have to wait years to see the new label. We fear the presence of two labels on the market during a transitional phase will lead to confusion among consumers. Better news is creation of an online database to display product models that will need to bear the Energy Label. This will increase transparency for consumers and help them choose the products that serve their needs.

The editing work started by correspondence in February, and its completion was discussed in a workshop on 21-23 March 2017 in Canada which a CI Representative attended.

Ahead of the workshop, ANEC and CI developed comments on the draft IWA and published a detailed paper on the collaborative economy. In this Position Paper on Sharing Economy – Input to Draft International Workshop Agreement, we proposed a review of the definitions of actors involved to improve clarity of the responsibilities in this new economic model and thus facilitate a more precise framework. The paper goes on to address the role of standards in such a framework and our expectations from the IWA in building consumer trust.

ANEC welcomes adoption by CEN of revised European standards for high chairs and for table-mounted chairs.

EN 14988 ‘Children's high chairs - Requirements and test methods’ and EN 1272 ‘Child care articles - Table mounted chairs - Safety requirements and test methods’ were both revised under Mandate M/527 ‘Certain seating for children’. ANEC followed the work and submitted comments during the Enquiry stage. As most of our comments were accepted, we expressed support for the final drafts, and submitted ‘Favourable’ Opinions.

In 2016, the first standard under M/527, EN 16120:2012+A1:2014/A2:2016 ‘Child use and care articles - Chair mounted seat’ was adopted with ANEC support. Work continues with development of a standard for children’s chairs in CEN TC 207 WG2 ‘Children’s nursery furniture’.

Draft Standardisation Request on web accessibility

Directive (EU) 2016/2102 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (‘Web Accessibility Directive’) was approved at the end of 2016.

The directive, supported by ANEC and the disability movement, makes use of Harmonised Standards to provide a presumption of conformity with its essential requirements.

To this end, a draft Standardisation Request for Harmonised Standards on the accessibility of apps and mobile apps was issued by the EC, with ANEC support. It has now been sent to CEN-CENELEC for their approval by 18 April, further to approval given by the EC Committee of Standards in March. CEN, CENELEC and ETSI are requested to deliver harmonised standard(s) based on EN 301 549 V1.1.2 (2015-04) and including any necessary provisions needed to support the implementation of Article 4 of Directive (EU) 2016/2102.

Safety Promotion in Action, Amsterdam

The 4th European Conference on Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion (EU-Safety-2017) will be held in Amsterdam on 21-22 September 2017, hosted by EuroSafe with VeiligheidNL (Consumer Safety Institute).

The conference will demonstrate good practices in injury research and prevention, and address a wide range of topics such as child safety, leisure safety, safety for older people and safety of vulnerable road users. It will bring together professionals with interest in injury prevention policies and safety promotion, including decision makers, researchers and professionals working in private business.

The organisers invite abstracts for presentations to be made during break-out sessions at the Conference. These need to be submitted before 15 May. For more information, please visit the conference webpage.

Further to our contributions to earlier consultations on the evaluation of the drinking Water Directive and ANEC position on the chemical safety of materials in contact with water, we replied to the consultation on the roadmap.

We welcome that materials in contact with drinking water have been recognised as a key issue to be tackled in the revision. However, we strongly disagree with the proposed problem definition. Instead, we stress the lack of consumer protection that arises from only a few EU countries having comprehensive approval systems in place. We call for a European regulatory approach in the form of implementing measures adopted by the EC (provided for in the Directive), or through a separate legal framework for materials in contact with drinking water. These could be complemented by European test standards prepared by CEN.

CEN-CENELEC “Functional safety & cybersecurity” workshop

On 16 March, ANEC attended a stakeholder engagement workshop on functional safety & cybersecurity, hosted by CEN-CENELEC in Brussels. It aimed to engage industry representatives in defining standardisation needs for functional safety, and the digital protection of processes, systems and data. Participants provided practical recommendations that could meet these needs. The detailed programme of the event is available at this link.

RAPEX Annual Report 2016

In March, the EC published the latest annual report of the Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products. The results confirm a good cooperation is in place at European level to ensure dangerous products found on the market are removed as quickly as possible.

The Rapid Alert System (RAPEX), established in 2004, is operated by 31 national authorities, assisted by the EC. Each week, about 50 alerts are registered and published online via a weekly notification report.

CEN-CENELEC webinar for ANEC Representatives. . .

On 27 March, the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre hosted a webinar on the CEN-CENELEC electronic platforms especially for ANEC experts. The focus of the online training was the CEN e-Committee platform and CENELEC Collaboration Tool, and it provided tips and tricks on how to use them efficiently.

. . . and ANEC webinars

ANEC is continuing to run its own webinars, following on from those last year. So far, we have addressed rules on Standardisation Requests, CEN-CENELEC Guide 25 on partnership with CEN-CENELEC, and new right of Opinion for societal stakeholders in CEN-CENELEC. We are planning to host webinars on the Joint Initiative on Standardisation, soft skills for consumer experts and on a general introduction to ANEC for new members.

News from ANEC Members

GREECE

EKPIZO has launched a survey in school canteens within the Attica prefecture, "Do school canteens contribute to child obesity?". Its duration will be 2 months and it aims at finding whether school canteens offer food items other than those permitted and whether prices comply with the law. The survey will look at the degree to which canteen operators and school principals are informed about the law and their compliance with it. This research was triggered by complaints received by EKPIZO stating that food items available in many school canteens are not permitted by law as they contain high levels of sugar, fats, salt and empty calories. The law is intended to combat child obesity. The results will be disseminated to the competent authorities, parents and media, and EKPIZO will then consider its next steps.

THE NETHERLANDS

VeiligheidNL campaign: 'With a bit of risk, they'll get there'!

In an online campaign, VeiligheidNL (Consumer Safety Institute) raises awareness about the benefits of ‘risky play’ for children aged 5 to 7 years.VeiligheidNL (www.veiligheid.nl) is committed to the healthy and safe upbringing of children. As a national centre of expertise, it offers parents, professionals and children both help and advice to reduce the risk of serious accident. Outdoor play is an activity where children can explore boundaries, test their limits and gain experience through taking risks. The concept of ‘risky play’ seems to conflict with child safety, but children who engage in such play develop competencies and skills that can actually protect them from accidents. The campaign includes an online video, information and practical advice.

On 1 March, MEPs Anderson and Borzan hosted a debate on the proposed Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services, part of a package to boost e-commerce. The MEPs are the EP Rapporteurs for the TRAN and IMCO committees on the proposal which aims at achieving more efficiency, transparency on delivery times, and affordable prices.

The event allowed postal operators and stakeholders to give their views on the proposal. ANEC President, Arnold Pindar, gave the consumer perspective reflecting ANEC research. We believe lower prices for consumers can be expected to result from competition but this should not result in a decrease in the quality of services provided nor in an uneven playing field for operators.

Mr Pindar confirmed consumer confidence would benefit from improved requirements for transparent and comparable information on available delivery options; more guidance on procedures for damage, loss of goods, delays and returns, and complaints handling. He also explained the role standards should play in delivering these benefits.

On 7 February, a breakfast debate on European Standards for the 21st century, hosted by Marlene Mizzi MEP, was held in the European Parliament.

The event offered opportunity for an open discussion of key challenges facing European standardisation, including those identified in the EC Communication of June 2016. These included a single approach towards standardisation from the European institutions, and the use of standards to support the global competitiveness of European industry, and the protection and welfare of citizens.

ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell, spoke on the value of European standards not only to trade, but also to aiding consumer confidence and protection.

"We need a European legal framework for the quality, safety & liability of services", said ANEC President, Arnold Pindar, at the EPC Policy Dialogue, ‘The Services package: is the EU on the right track?’ which took place in Brussels on 1 March.

The dialogue focused on the development of the Single Market for Services and whether the latest EC proposal could meet ambitions.

Mr Pindar shared ANEC views on the single market for services. Referring to the findings of our research projects on cross border (online) services, he explained that ANEC aims for service standards to address principles related to choice, the provision of information, accessibility, communication, complaints and consumer redress.

Mr Pindar stressed that, without an EU legal framework addressing the quality, safety & liability of services, European standards will not provide a level-playing field as national regulations will continue to take precedence, leading to legal uncertainty, and consumer and business detriment.

On 22 February as part of the GS1 European Regional Forum, Chiara Giovannini, ANEC Senior Manager, Policy & Innovation, presented the consumer perspective on the role of standards in product safety in the digital economy.

Further to the research project and campaign (#toyfail) led by the Norwegian Consumer Council, the internet-connected doll, ‘My Friend Cayla’ has been banned in Germany. The Norwegian research showed such toys can pose particular risk to the privacy and safety of children. ANEC, BEUC and their members, including the Norwegian Consumer Council, are now in discussions with the EC to ensure the framework of legislation and standards is able to meet the challenges posed by innovative toys.

Protest in support of the Accessibility Act

In January, ANEC, the European Disability Forum (EDF) and AGE Platform Europe sent an open letter to MEPs to express concerns with the recently published EP draft report on the proposal for a European Accessibility Act.

On 6 March, EDF organised a demonstration themed ‘Breaking down the barriers’ in front of the European Parliament in an effort to ensure regulators understand the importance of the proposed law, not only for persons with disabilities, but everyone. The aim of the protest was to call on the IMCO Committee to adopt a more ambitious position on the proposal and so make it meaningful to millions of people in Europe.

EC workshop on accessibility of products & services

On 2-3 February, the EC hosted a workshop on accessibility of products and services. Its objective was to present accessibility and business case for providing accessible products and services. It also provided an opportunity to discuss accessibility legislation and the present proposal for a European Accessibility Act.

On the second day, ANEC expert, Monika Klenovec, spoke about accessibility regulations and standards in the built environment.

Web Accessibility Directive Expert Group

The Directive on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (‘Web Accessibility Directive’) was adopted at the end of 2016. It confers several implementing powers on the EC, regarding aspects such as the monitoring methodology, accessibility statement and the technical specifications for accessibility requirements for mobile apps (and websites).To advise the Commission in the execution of its implementing powers, a Committee and Expert Group (‘WADEX’) have been set up, comprised of Member States. In addition, a sub-group of stakeholders has also been created. Bart Simons will represent ANEC, the European Disability Forum (EDF), European Blind Union (EBU) and AGE Platform Europe in the stakeholder sub-group.

First ANEC Opinions in CEN-CENELEC

As reported in our previous e-Newsletter, the right of ANEC, ECOS & ETUC - the three Societal Stakeholder Organisations (SSOs) recognised under Annex III of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 - to submit an “Opinion” on draft standards submitted to Enquiry or Formal Vote in CEN-CENELEC was implemented on 1 January 2017.

As of 2 March, ANEC had submitted 16 Opinions, all apart from three being “Favourable” and in support of the draft standard.

New standards for children’s furniture

At the start of 2017, CEN adopted two new standards for children’s furniture.

EN 716-1 ‘Furniture - Children's cots and folding cots for domestic use - Part 1: Safety requirements’ specifies requirements for children's cots for domestic use with an internal length between 900mm and 1400mm. The standard applies to a cot that is fully assembled and ready for use, and does not apply to carry cots, cribs or cradles for which other standards exist. The new EN 716-1 supersedes EN 716-1:2008+A1:2013.

A warning not to add an additional second mattress has been introduced in the standard: parents sometimes put an extra mattress on top of the (very thin) folding cot mattress, which can create a risk as the sides of folding cots are flexible and the child can become stuck between the mattress and the cot.

ANEC participated in the development of the standards and gave a “Favourable Opinion” on each.

ANEC welcomes improved lawnmower standards

ANEC welcomes the adoption by CEN of two amendments aimed at improving the safety of lawnmowers. The amendments - EN ISO 5395-2/A2 and EN ISO 5395-3/A2 – focus on improving the guarding of the cutters on the two types of internal combustion-engine powered lawnmowers, pedestrian-controlled and ride-on. The requirements for each type are similar. These amendments provide clarity as to what is intended and do not change the objective of the original standards. They make careless operation more difficult and give manufacturers freedom to come forward with still safer designs.

Goodbye Odile!

Odile Finkelstein, a long-time expert in the ANEC Child Safety and Traffic & Mobility WGs, has decided to stop her participation in ANEC. Her role included representing ANEC in CEN/TC 402 ‘Domestic pools and spas’ and its four WGs. We must thank Odile for her commitment and enthusiasm in defending the consumer interest in standardisation over many years, and send her our best wishes for the future.

News from ANEC Members

Germany

DIN Consumer Council study on head injuries in children

The study “Head injuries in children by accidents in domestic environments caused by certain products” was initiated in spring 2016 by the DIN Consumer Council and is now available. The study empirically investigated cases of head injuries in children up to the age of 14 years in Germany and Austria. The focus was on head injuries that were caused by accidents in a domestic environment and had been treated in hospital. The aim was to identify those products that caused the accidents and to show their risks in a household with children.

The data originated from the European Injury Data Base (IDB) for cases of injury in Germany and Austria documented between 2006 and 2015. The sample comprised about 4.000 cases.

United Kingdom

NCF Consumer Congress on Brexit

On 6 April 2017, the National Consumer Federation will host a Consumer Congress entitled, ‘The best of Brexit for consumers’. The venue will be Broadway House, Tothill Street (a short walk from Parliament Square and next to St James’s Park underground station).

A programme of high-level speakers will consider the opportunities and threats posed by Brexit to consumers, and how the consumer voice should be strengthened and amplified. Registration is free but places limited to 120 participants.

In November 2016, CEN and CENELEC decided to grant ANEC, ECOS and ETUC - the three Societal Stakeholder Organisations (SSOs) recognised under Annex III of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 - the right to submit an Opinion on draft standards submitted to Enquiry or Formal Vote. The right was implemented on 1 January 2017.

The Opinion does not affect the decision on the adoption of a European Standard (EN), which remains with the members of CEN-CENELEC through the national delegation principle. However, the Opinion allows each SSO to express whether it supports the adoption of the standard through a “Favourable” or “Not Favourable” statement, accompanied by comments as needed. The parent Technical Committee must consider the Opinion and report to the relevant Technical Board.

The right to submit an Opinion is an additional right that does not affect the usual submission of comments, either during the development of a standard or during the voting stage.

In welcoming the CEN-CENELEC decision, ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell, commented, “For many years, ANEC has asked for its voice to be strengthened in the adoption of standards. It has been a source of frustration for us and our experts that we have not been able to show our support for the adoption of a standard, even when we have committed many hours to its drafting, or have been able to voice our concern if we believe the committee has overlooked fundamental issues of concern. Although the Opinion is still not a vote, we appreciate that CEN-CENELEC have taken this step to offer greater inclusiveness toward societal stakeholders”.

In January 2017, a draft EP report on the proposal for a European Accessibility Act was published. It was prepared by the IMCO Committee (Rapporteur, Morten Løkkegaard MEP).

Unfortunately, the draft report does not support the mainstreaming of accessibility and dilutes the EC proposal. Hence, together with the European Disability Forum (EDF) and AGE Platform Europe, ANEC has sent an open letter to MEPs to express concern.

On 26 January, the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market & Consumer Protection (IMCO) held the public hearing, “European Standards for the 21st Century”. The hearing was divided into two panels: the first focused on innovative, interconnected and interoperable standards for the future, while the second discussed how to make standards serve a modern inclusive society.

ANEC’s Chiara Giovannini presented the views of the three Societal Stakeholder Organisations - ANEC, ECOS & ETUC - on the European Standardisation System and political approach to standards in the EU.

Sunbeds - the time for action

Following a request from the European Commission (EC), the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental & Emerging Risks (SCENIHR) has updated an Opinion from 2006, of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products, on biological effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation relevant to health, with particular reference to sunbeds for cosmetic purposes.

In April 2016, ANEC supported an SCENIHR Preliminary Opinion and believes attention needs to be drawn to the key findings on carcinogen effects of UV radiation and the effects on younger users, as well as the potential for harm to outweigh any benefits.

The SCHEER Opinion, of November 2016, finds UV radiation – including that emitted by sunbeds - to be a “complete carcinogen”, as it acts both as an initiator and promoter of cancer. It goes on to state that UV radiation, “causes cutaneous melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma at all ages and that the risk for cancer is higher when the first exposure takes place in younger ages”. The Opinion finds “moderate evidence” that exposure to UV radiation, including that emitted by sunbeds, also increases the risk of basal cell carcinoma and ocular melanoma. The Opinion concludes that there is “no safe limit” for exposure to UV radiation from sunbeds, and the use of sunbeds to encourage production of Vitamin D is redundant as there are alternative sources of Vitamin D.

Given these findings, which confirm earlier concerns, ANEC urges the EC, the Member States and the standardisation bodies not to delay action in order to protect the health of consumers.

Ruling of the ECJ on Harmonised Standards

In 2014, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was asked whether it has competence to examine a Harmonised Standard (James Elliott Construction, case C-613/14). In January 2016, the Advocate General gave a positive opinion as Harmonised Standards are implicitly connected to a Directive or Regulation. A more recent ruling of the Court of Justice has confirmed the opinion of the Advocate General, at least partly, although it is specific to construction standards and the related legislation (itself a special example of New Approach/New Legislative Framework legislation).

The ECJ confirms it has jurisdiction over (construction) standards as,

“a harmonised standard,…, adopted on the basis of Directive 89/106/EEC and the references to which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, forms part of EU law, since it is by reference to the provisions of such a standard that it is established whether or not the presumption laid down in Article 4(2) of Directive 89/106/EEC applies to a given product”.

Nevertheless, the ECJ adds that (construction) standards are not binding in the case examined.

A legal analysis of the ruling and its possible implications is expected.

New European standard for domestic mini pools

ANEC welcomes the adoption by CEN of EN 16927 “Mini pools - Specific requirements including safety & test methods for mini pools”, prepared by CEN/TC 402 “Domestic pools and spas”. ANEC participated in the drafting of the standard and supported its adoption.

A mini pool is a non-permanently installed artificial pool, whose characteristics include a maximum effective water volume of less than 6m3, and where filtration and water treatment are not required.

The publication of EN 16927 is the latest in a series of European Standards for swimming pools, addressing requirements for in-ground pools and above-ground pools, and requirements and test methods for filtration systems; circulation systems and the treatment of water systems.

ANEC participates in continuing work in TC 402 on the drafting of a standard for hot tubs & spas.

ANEC and ECOS join forces in Ecodesign standardisation

Under a one-year action, ANEC and ECOS are to collaborate to ensure the effective participation of stakeholders, representing environmental and consumer interests, in standardisation work arising from the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Directives.

This project is funded by the European Commission under a specific grant addressing action 36 of Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2016-2017, “Technical support to stakeholders on standardisation work for energy related products”. ANEC will focus on items of high consumer relevance, including work in CEN-CENELEC JWG 10 on material efficiency aspects for Ecodesign, and Ecodesign aspects of product groups, such as white goods & smart appliances in CENELEC/TC 59X.

Report on implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan

The European Commission has issued a report on implementation of the 2015 Circular Economy Action Plan. Of particular relevance to ANEC’s work on sustainability is the progress of legislative proposals on waste; the Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2019; European standardisation of material efficiency, and circular economy principles in new initiatives in the construction sector.

New ANEC study on use of service standards by supervising authorities

Services are one of the main drivers of the European economy and account for around 70 percent of GDP. Standards can ensure the quality of services, but only if they exist and are used. ANEC has published a report on the use of service standards by authorities in market surveillance.

Commissioned by ANEC, the Swedish Service Research Centre, Karlstad University, looked at both how the development of service standards could be encouraged and how authorities approach the surveillance of services through standards.

EP Disability Intergroup Reception

The Disability Intergroup of the EP hosted a New Year’s Reception on 23 January in Brussels. The theme was 'A Europe that leaves no one behind'. A welcome from Marek Plura MEP was followed by speeches by Yannis Vardakastanis, the President of EDF, and Jana Hainsworth, the President of Social Platform, both of whom reflected on their priorities and expectations for 2017.

CEN-CENELEC 10-10 webinars

The CEN-CENELEC Management Centre is continuing its series of “10-10 webinars”. The webinars offer an opportunity to learn about developments in standardisation, as well as specific topics that could have a direct impact on technical work. They are aimed at CEN and CENELEC technical body officers, but all are welcome to participate.

ANEC is also planning to continue its webinars for its experts. We invite members to participate in the consultation on proposed topics recently launched by the ANEC Secretariat.

ANEC Work Programme 2017

The ANEC Work Programme 2017 sets out the activities ANEC plans to undertake this year. It lists more detailed areas of activity under seven sectoral priority areas – Accessibility, Child Safety, Digital Society, Domestic Appliances, Services, Sustainability, and Traffic & Mobility – as well as the horizontal area of Policy.

These priorities take note of the EC Annual Union Work Programme 2017, published in June 2016.

Goodbye Philippe!

On his retirement from ANEC, we must thank Philippe Capitaine, a member of the Digital Society WG and Representative in CENELEC TC 106X 'Electro Magnetic Fields in the Human Environment', for his commitment and enthusiasm in defending the consumer interest in standardisation.

All wish him a long, healthy and happy retirement.

News from ANEC Members

Czechia

Survey on senior consumers’ experiences with packaged products

The Czech Consumer Association (SČS) pays special attention to the most vulnerable groups in society, including children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

In 2016, SČS, with the Czech Cabinet for Standardization, launched a survey to assess the extent of difficulties that senior citizens face when opening packaged products. The survey focused on the experiences of these consumers when opening food or non-food mainstream consumer products. The results confirmed that they indeed encounter problems. Tin cans (61%) were found to pose the most difficulties (61%), then products sealed in plastic containers (53%) and beverage bottles (38%). The results show that the recommendations of CEN/TS 15945 : 2011 ‘Packaging - Ease of opening - Criteria and methods - Criteria and test methods for evaluating consumer packaging’ are not put into practice. In 2017, SČS aims to build on the survey findings and cooperate with partners from industry to establish tools to promote and strengthen the implementation of standards. SČS also intends to learn from consumer experiences in other countries.

Spain

True or False (“Verdadero o Falso”)

Last year, CECU, the Spanish Confederation of Consumers & Users, launched the campaign, “Verdadero o Falso”, to advise consumers about the consequences of buying counterfeit products and to promote responsible consumption. CECU has now prepared some materials aimed at raising consumer awareness about counterfeit products and the consequences these products have on the economy, environment, health & labour. These include a video, revealing the reality of counterfeit products, and a digital bulletin of articles from those concerned with consumer protection. ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell, was pleased to contribute to the digital bulletin.

For comments or if you wish to write an article for the ANEC Newsletter, please contact: Kristina Aleksandrova (kal@anec.eu).

Job opportunity!

ANEC, BEUC & ICRT are joining forces in the recruitment of a Fundraising Officer, a full-time post with an initial contract of three years. The post will be based in London and Brussels. For further details, please see the Vacancy Notice on the ANEC website. The deadline for applications is 20 January 2017.

Keep our children and their secrets safe!

Source: Google Play

Internet-connected toys have found their way into Father Christmas’s sack during the past couple of years. With another Christmas on the horizon, the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) decided to examine the terms and conditions and technical features of the connected toys, My friend Cayla and i-Que. The results of their research project (#toyfail) show what seem to be breaches of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive, the Data Protection Directive and possibly the Toy Safety Directive.

The NCC found spoken data, collected during the use of the toys, may be shared with unnamed third-parties and used for targeted advertising. More worryingly, our colleagues found it possible to use a mobile phone to speak to a child through the toys, using a Bluetooth connection, with the link maintained up to 20 metres away.

As part of the #toyfail campaign, joined by BEUC and other BEUC members alongside the NCC, ANEC issued a press release and wrote a common letter with BEUC to the European Commission (EC) to express concern. We trust a meeting with the Commission will follow in the New Year.

Since the campaign was launched on 6 December, large chains in the Netherlands and Belgium have stopped selling the toys, while stores in Denmark, Norway and Sweden have offered refunds to consumers. It also seems that Amazon has stopped sales through its European online outlets.

EESC Opinion: AUWP 2017

In December , the European Economic & Social Committee (EESC) adopted an opinion on the Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation 2017. The AUWP was published in June as a Communication from the EC.

The opinion was drafted by the Polish member of the ANEC General Assembly, Elżbieta Szadzińska, and approved by the EESC plenary with 206 votes, no objections and 3 abstentions. It accords with ANEC’s views on inclusiveness of the European Standardisation System (ESS), and the need to increase consumer participation in standardisation, as well as to progress standardisation work on services, accessibility and digital issues.

IPSW 2016

On 15 November, Tania Vandenberghe, ANEC Senior Programme Manager, presented the consumer view on safety-by-design during the ICPHSO International Symposium. During a conference on the safety of products sold online the next day, Chiara Giovannini, ANEC Senior Manager, moderated a panel on practices to survey the safety of products sold online. It highlighted some good practices in authorities and explored cooperation between stakeholders and authorities. Chiara also spoke during a panel on product safety enforcement, lessons learned and ways forward.

Tania Vandenberghe at IPSW 2016 Chiara Giovannini at IPSW 2016

Image: Twitter Image: EC

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

On 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed. This year, the focus was on the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals and how they can create a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.

It is a basic consumer right to have access to products and services. ANEC believes that standards are a suitable tool to overcome this discrimination if Design for All (DfA) principles are applied. To this end, we are leading standards work on access to the built environment to make every city in Europe accessible.

We have also participated in work on the first European Standard for accessible ICT products & services under Mandate M/376. EN 301 549 “Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in the Europe” will be used to implement the Directive on the Accessibility of Public Sector Bodies’ websites and apps, and ANEC will also contribute to the update of relevant standards to include apps. The Web Accessibility Directive was published in the Official Journal of the EU in December 2016, with the requirement that all public sector mobile applications are accessible by June 2021. The deadlines for existing and new public sector websites are September 2020 and September 2019 respectively.

European Digital Competence Framework for Consumers

In December, the EC published a Digital Competences for Consumers Reference Framework. The Framework is a joint action of DG Justice & Consumers and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and is part of the deliverables of the New Skills Agenda for Europe and the Digital Single Market (DSM). Both these initiatives of the Juncker Commission have underlined the importance of improving citizens’ digital skills.

The Framework ("DigCompConsumers") aims to set a common understanding of the competences consumers need to engage actively, safely and assertively in digital marketplaces. It is intended for use by education and policy professionals, for developing digital education, consumer education and consumer policy initiatives. The Framework outlines fourteen competences, grouped along the purchasing process. Each of the competences is described and illustrated with concrete examples in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

ANEC contributed to the public consultation on Evaluation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) last year and released the position paper, 'Laying the foundations for sustainable buildings'. We called for development of a European strategy for sustainable construction to achieve reliable sustainable performance assessment of buildings, and provision of meaningful measurement indicators and information. We welcome the intention to encourage the energetic retrofitting of buildings. Quality and comparability of Energy Performance certificates (EPCs) remain to be improved in light of the enhancement foreseen in the proposal, and the intention to set up EPC databases.

Ecodesign Work Plan 2016-2019 released

On 30 November, a new work plan for Ecodesign was published as part of the EC “Winter Package”. The work plan gives a sound mandate to continue with Ecodesign measures which will serve consumers' pockets and the environment. Guidelines on voluntary agreements were also published that take almost all our recommendations into account. In addition, a draft Regulation on tolerances was published, reflecting the positions of ANEC and BEUC, which will stop some industry practitioners from exploiting test tolerances.

For more information, we invite you to visit the EC webpage under Ecodesign.

New standards on material efficiency aspects

CEN-CENELEC Joint Working Group 10 has started its work on “Energy-related products –Material Efficiency Aspects for Ecodesign”. A kick-off meeting was held in September and its Project Teams met at the end of November to plan the work.About twenty deliverables are to be developed by JWG 10 by March 2019. The most challenging exercise may be to produce horizontal standards that are applicable to all product groups as the EC mandate (M/543) requires. ANEC is a member of Project Team (PT) 2 on durability; PT 3 on upgradability, ability to repair, facilitate re-use, use of re-used components, and PT 7 on documentation.

Serbia admitted to CEN-CENELEC as a full member

In November, the General Assemblies of CEN and CENELEC agreed to admit Serbia as the 34th full member of both European Standardisation Organisations with membership starting on 1 January 2017. ISS (the Institute of Standardization for Serbia) will be the Serbian representative.

The ISS membership of CEN and CENELEC comes in direct support of the negotiations for Serbia’s accession to the EU. The Republic of Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009 and was granted candidate country status for EU membership in March 2012.

ANEC will seek the appointment of a Serbian member to the ANEC General Assembly in the New Year.

'Better Europe - Have your say'

The BRWN brings together European organisations from the spectrum of societal and social interests. Its aim is to follow developments on Better Regulation, and the initiatives and actions from the EC, European Parliament and Member States in this area.

Call for expert to represent ANEC in CENELEC TC 106X

We are looking for a volunteer to represent consumers in standardisation on Electro-magnetic Fields (EMF) in the Human Environment (CENELEC TC 106X).

TC 106X deals with various aspects of the exposure of people to electromagnetic fields, and develops standards listed under the Radio Equipment and Low Voltage Directives. ANEC has been participating in this Technical Committee for many years now, to ensure that the standards developed take into account consumer interest. The work is largely carried out by correspondence, with no more than two physical meetings per year.

For information on how to apply, please see the vacancy note on our website.

Season's Greetings from the ANEC Secretariat

As this is the last Newsletter of 2016, all in the ANEC Secretariat wish you a happy Christmas and a healthy, prosperous and safe New Year!

EESC Opinion: European standards for the 21st Century

In October, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an opinion on the European Commission Communication on European Standards for the 21st century, published in June 2016.

The opinion was prepared by a group chaired by Benedicte Federspiel (ANEC General Assembly Member for Denmark and ANEC Treasurer). The opinion reflects ANEC’s views on inclusiveness of the European Standardisation System (ESS) and the need to increase consumer participation in standardisation.

Web-accessibility Directive adopted

On 26 October, the European Parliament adopted a Directive on the accessibility of web-sites and apps in the public sector.

Several years ago, we joined with AGE Platform Europe, the European Blind Union, and European Disability Forum in calling on the European Commission to make a legislative proposal that would deliver web accessibility for all.

The Parliament, in agreement with the Council, made significant improvements to the original Commission proposal published in December 2012. These included the scope of the web-sites covered, enforcement provisions, and addition of access from a handheld mobile device as well as mobile apps, in line with ANEC’s position.

ANEC supports European Accessibility Act

On 8 November, ANEC participated in a conference on the proposal for a European Accessibility Act, organised by the European Disability Forum with the Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament. The event was hosted by MEP Olga Sehnalová.

ANEC Senior Manager, Chiara Giovannini, gave our views on the proposal and shared ideas on putting the Accessibility Act into practice.

ANEC-BEUC show Ecodesign savings

A new study by ANEC & BEUC confirms how crucial it is to safeguard Ecodesign. Indeed, a typical household saves at least €330 annually thanks to Ecodesign, and by doing nothing! This is because Ecodesign laws have enabled manufacturers to produce less energy-hungry products. And if consumers choose the top class of the Energy Label, their savings can jump to over €450 per year.

In addition to the economic benefits, Ecodesign delivers qualitative benefits to consumers such as quieter vacuum cleaners. The study also highlights that savings for consumers could be far higher if Ecodesign requirements were more ambitious and timely in their delivery.

EC Vice-Presidents speak at BEUC on Ecodesign

Speakers at BEUC event ANEC joined a roundtable on the benefits of Ecodesign, hosted by its sister organisation BEUC, that featured European Commission First Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, and Vice-President Jyrki Katainen on 8 November. The Vice-Presidents welcomed the recently published ANEC/BEUC study which came to conclusions similar to those in the EC assessment.

The Vice-Presidents delivered strong messages in support of Ecodesign and revealed the product groups that will be included in the long-awaited Working Plan to be released on 30 November. Of the 15 product groups initially considered by the Commission, six are retained: electric kettles; solar panels; lifts; hand dryers; building automation & control systems; refrigerated containers. These have been selected as the Commission believes their energy savings potential to be the highest. Toasters and hair dryers are excluded while smartphones are not mentioned.

He drew attention to new trends faced by consumers: information overload; difficulty in identifying accurate information; lack of transparency about collection and use of data. He also addressed emerging consumer-to-consumer services that need further attention, and referred to ANEC’s longstanding call for a EU legislative framework for the safety of services.

The event included participants from the European Commission and from a wide range of service providers (from car sharing and digital services, to fire safety and funeral services). Discussions in breakout sessions reflected on the trends and challenges encountered by stakeholders in the services sector and how to prioritise those where standards have potential to support the performance of the service provision.

Market Surveillance & Enforcement

The European Commission carried out a public consultation on enforcement and market surveillance in the framework of the Single Market Strategy with deadline of 31 October. The aim was to collect opinions on the problem of non-compliant products in the market and the options for solutions.

ANEC and BEUC prepared a joint answer to this consultation. We also wrote to the Director-General of DG GROW to stress our concerns about the lack of progress on the revision of the current legal framework for product safety and market surveillance.

Lifts – revision of EN 81-70

Finalisation of the revision of EN 81-70, “Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts - Particular applications for passenger and good passenger lifts - Part 70: Accessibility to lifts for persons including persons with disabilities”, initiated on an ANEC proposal, was proceeding well. However, comments received during the public enquiry phase led CEN/TC 10/ WG7 to introduce a change to the contrast requirements for symbols on push buttons which will adversely affect the accessibility of lifts to those with visual impairments.

As a CEN Partner Organisation, ANEC fundamentally objected in answer to a ballot of CEN/TC 10 in October that was intended to launch the Formal Vote on the standard. We were supported by the European Blind Union. Following our fundamental disagreement, a second ballot is being held until 18 November 2016. Nevertheless, ANEC regrets that no attempt at finding a compromise has been made and will not support the launch of the Formal Vote of prEN 81-70 because of the new lower requirements for contrast. We call on our members and partners to object to this revision and support the development of a standard that includes the needs of consumers with visual impairments.SBS annual conference 2016

SBS conference speakersOn 19 October, Small Business Standards (SBS) held its annual conference, focusing this year on “Reinforcing the cooperation within the standardisation community”.

ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell, spoke during a panel to give the consumer views on service standardisation, the effectiveness of market surveillance & enforcement, and “Better Regulation”.

Car seats become more consumer-friendly

ANEC and Consumers International (CI) welcome the adoption of the second phase of Regulation 129 (R129) on enhanced child restraint systems (the “I-size Regulation”) by UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP 29) at its 170th session held in Geneva on 15-18 November.

The second phase of R129 covers non-integral enhanced child restraint systems, i.e. child seats with optional Isofix attachments in which children are secured with the car seat belt. Children taller than 100cm will be better protected from frontal impact, and especially side impact, as booster seats will need to be equipped with backrests for children of at least 135cm height. Please see our press release.

At the same WP 29 session, the ANEC/CI proposal to withdraw Isofix from Regulation 44 (R44) was also adopted in order to reduce overlap with R129 and avoid the sale of products offering different levels of safety. Hence, as of 1 September 2017, integral Isofix child seats will no longer be approved under R44. This is a very welcome step towards gradually phasing out the old Regulation R44 once Regulation 129 is complete.

• A short film ‘We are all consumers’ which explains the importance of consumer protection and the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection in clear and simple terms.

Study visit of Moroccan ministry

On 9 November 2016, ANEC Programme Manager, Michela Vuerich, presented ANEC’s activities to a delegation from the consumer protection division of the Moroccan Ministry for Industry, Trade, Investment & Digital Economy. The visit was organised in the frame of the twinning project "mieux proteger le consommateur", aided by AB-REOC/BV-OECO, the Belgian member of the ANEC General Assembly. The meeting allowed the exchange of views on experiences in consumer protection and standardisation.

Goodbye Helmut!

Helmut Hintz, ANEC Representative in the IEC and CENELEC technical committees on the safety of electronic equipment within the fields of audio-visual, information technology and communication technology, is retiring from the ANEC Digital Society WG.

At the IEC TC 108 meeting on 10-14 October in Frankfurt, Chiara Giovannini presented Helmut with a plaque marking his retirement and key achievements on behalf of ANEC. He was also awarded a certificate of high achievement by the IEC.

ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell, added his thanks in writing to Helmut, noting his dedication in achieving consumer products that are safe for all.